ZocDoc - Uniting Patients and DoctorsThis is a big moment for us. The premiere of Small Empires with Alexis Ohanian. It's a new weekly show that visits rising New York City startups and provides never-before-seen access to the men and women building our future. This week? We visit ZocDoc. The company was founded in April 2007 to support the health care industry — to make it as easy to schedule a doctor's appointment as, say, ordering a pizza.
Who is Alexis Ohanian? In 2005, he co-founded "the internet's front page" Reddit and then went on to launch companies like Breadpig and The Hipmunk. He's also an activist for net neutrality (you might remember his campaign against SOPA and PIPA) and an all-around charming guy.
Rap Genius - The Business of Social LyricismRap Genius (née Rap Exegesis) began as a quest to understand Cam'ron lyrics. It has since blossomed from a destination for understanding and critiquing rap lyrics to an annotation-fueled machine with a quest to "explain everything" — including current events, terms of service agreements, and poetry.
Small Empires is our new weekly show that visits rising New York City startups and provides never-before-seen access to the men and women building our future. Join Alexis Ohanian as he takes a look behind the curtain at the company's Brooklyn-based headquarters and later visits poet Joshua Mehigan about his experience as a "verified" user.
Artsicle - Connecting Artists and FansDiscover, rent, maybe purchase. It's a business model we've seen in various forms for video, audio, and even games. But what about one of the most timeless creative professions — art?
Small Empires is our new weekly show that visits rising New York City startups and provides never-before-seen access to the men and women building our future. Join Alexis Ohanian as he talks to cofounders Alex Tryon (also an artist) and Scott Carleton (a former nuclear engineer), as well as Brooklyn-based artist Dan Bina.
Fitocracy - Social Fitness and 'Gamification'Gaming is addictive. Working out? Not so much. Cue Fitocracy. It's the product of two people unhappy with their own body image, trying to figure out some way to motivate themselves getting in shape, and putting those efforts into a company.
Small Empires is our new weekly show that visits rising New York City startups and provides never-before-seen access to the men and women building our future. Join Alexis Ohanian as he talks to cofounders Brian Wang and Richard Talens at their office near Union Square — and later gets trained by a Fitocracy user.
Shapeways - The Business of 3D Printing"A company within a company." That's the story of Shapeways, a startup that began in an incubator within Dutch conglomerate, Philips. And Shapeways itself is something of an incubator — a 3D-printing marketplace that allows for others to make a business out of their work.
Small Empires is our new weekly show that visits rising New York City startups and provides never-before-seen access to the men and women building our future. Join Alexis Ohanian as he talks to Shapeways CEO Peter Weijmarshausen, as well as Shapeways artist / cufflinks aficionado Peter Knocke, whose work is made via Shapeways. (Note: this is our mid-season break. We won't be back next week, but we'll see you soon!)
OkCupid - Finding love with 1s, 0sSmall Empires is back! Join Alexis Ohanian as we give you a never-before-seen look at the world of New York startups.
This week, we check out OkCupid, the dating site with a propensity for data research. Alexis sits with Christian Rudder about how he and the SparkNotes founders went from study guides to an online dating network — and from there, how the startup functions after being purchased by Match.com owners IAC.
Next week? A software company that's helping you make better sketches — online and off.
Paper by FiftyThree - The Art of IdeationSmall Empires turns a new page and takes a look inside the colorful world of FiftyThree, makers of the hit app, Paper. Founded by a group of ex-Microsoft Research veterans that worked on the secretive 'Courier' project, FiftyThree develops design-minded software that aims to help regular humans communicate their ideas effectively and beautifully. In this episode, meet the minds behind FiftyThree and an educator that is using Paper to both present ideas and encourage students to develop theirs, through the art of digital drawing.
Maker's Row - The Future of American ManufacturingFor small business owners and entrepreneurs, finding factories and sourcing facilities is not a trivial task. People bringing products to life have to pay substantial directory fees or know someone in the industry. Enter Maker's Row: a new approach to cataloging, organizing and representing the best American manufacturers so designers & entrepreneurs can go from concept to prototype without going overseas or over budget.
Kitchensurfing - The Disruption of Private CheffingHiring a private chef is typically considered a luxury reserved for only the wealthy, but one Brooklyn startup aims to change that. Headquartered in Gowanus, Kitchensurfing is opening the private cheffing industry to the masses by creating a new platform for undiscovered chefs to build up their own personal brands and enrich the diets of their customers. Whether users are looking to learn how to prepare new styles of cuisine, host a party with friends, cater an event, or simply eat differently in their own homes, Kitchensurfing is connecting people with better food.
Squarespace - The Love of OptimizationMaking a website is hard. Making one that supports a business is even harder. When Anthony Casalena started Squarespace in early 2004, these were some of the problems he endeavored to solve. After 10 years of development, Casalena and the Squarespace team have perfected the art of designing within constraints, and they've fostered a growing enterprise by applying that principle to the businesses and passion projects of their customers. In this episode of Small Empires, see how Squarespace made the jump from solo founder to startup success and how the company continues to push the boundaries of online entrepreneurship both for itself and its customers.
